100%

Scanned image of the page. Keyboard directions: use + to zoom in, - to zoom out, arrow keys to pan inside the viewer.

Page Options

Download this Issue

Share

Something wrong?

Something wrong with this page? Report problem.

Rights / Permissions

This collection, digitized in collaboration with the Michigan Daily and the Board for Student Publications, contains materials that are protected by copyright law. Access to these materials is provided for non-profit educational and research purposes. If you use an item from this collection, it is your responsibility to consider the work's copyright status and obtain any required permission.

October 20, 1999 - Image 24

Resource type:
Text
Publication:
The Michigan Daily, 1999-10-20

Disclaimer: Computer generated plain text may have errors. Read more about this.


$coreboard ,.
NHL TORONTO 3.
HOCKEY Carolina 3
DETROIfT 6, Nashville 4,
San .ose 3 BUFFALO 3
FLORIDA 5. DALLAS 2,
Vancouver 2 Edmonton 1.
Colorado 2, Boston at
MONTREAL 1 LOS ANGELES, Inc.
PHIlADELPHIA 5,
N.Y. Rangers 0

NBA
BASKETBALL
New Jersey 105
NEW YORK 99
BOSTON 108.
Utah 104
Milwaukee 81.
MINNESOTA 80
Toronto 100
DENVER 95

Ub * i &l

Tracking 'M' teams
Check out the Michigan women's basketball team for
the first time this season. Stop by Criler Arena after
the COnClUSiOn of the football game against Illinois on
Saturday. Admission is free.

Thursday
October 21, 1999

12A

The Daily Grind
Please kep Hokfrs
out ofSugar Bawl
sn't Virginia Tech the feel-good story in college football
this season? Isn't it nice to see a team rise from obscurity
into national prominence, as the fourth-ranked Hokies have
done of late?
Because of all these factors, I can say that I am pulling for
Virginia Tech all the way. With every foe the H-okies square
off against, I hope against hope that they can survive the
Temples and Boston Colleges and win the Big East (Motto:
Our conference is so bad that none of the teams have any
chance of beating Virginia Tech on any given day).
Because if the Hokies win out and get a little help from
other teams, they can reach the promised land of the Sugar
Bowl and the BCS national championship game. They can
parade out onto the turf of the Superdome, their orange and
maroon Taco Bell uniforms soaking up the nation's spotlight.
They can line up against almighty
Florida State for the right to call them- Andy
selves the nation's best team. And the LtaCk
Seminoles will proceed to beat the Ltack _
Hokies like they stole something.
Come on, Hokies. I realize I'm not_
giving Virginia Tech the benefit of the
doubt, but they seem to fall under a
stipulation that is hidden in the fine
print of the hefty BCS rulebook. It's
called the Tulane Clause.
It reads something like this: There Cou y sTE
are certain teams that, even if they LATACI(
remain undefeated for four straight
seasons, will rise no higher than fifth in either the polls or the
BCS rankings. It should be realized that these teams are unde-
feated by virtue of an absurdly easy schedule and possibly one
impressive victory. Even if they are the only undefeated team
in the nation at the end of the season, they will be sent to the
Motor City Bowl, where they will be soundly thumped by
Marshall.
This was about the size of things last season, when Tulane
was one of two remaining undefeateds at season's end. The
other one was Florida State.
So, all other things being equal (there's a Latin legal term
for this that I can't remember), the Green Wave should have
met the Seminoles in the national championship game. Which
might have resulted in the first triple-digit spread in college
football history. And I still would've taken Florida State.
But thankfully, pollsters allowed rationality to enter into
their considerations, and ranked the Green Wave no higher
than seventh the entire season. They avoided having to con-
tend with Motor City mainstay Marshall, instead beating
BYU in the Liberty Bowl.
But this year, the Hokies are Tulane all over again. The
Hokies play in the Big East, which means they roll past teams
like Rutgers and Boston College on the way to their confer-
ence championship, while the Green Wave had to do battle
with the likes of Memphis and Houston.
I will admit that Virginia Tech has looked impressive -
they did beat Syracuse by 57 points more than Michigan did,
even if they didn't have to do it in the Carrier Dome.
But to say they are national title contenders is a stretch. The
game against the Orangemen was Virginia Tech's marquee
game. The Hokies knew that a win would be a big siep down
the Yellow Brick Road to New Orleans, and they delivered.
But as I watch teams like Penn State fight for their lives
week after week in the Big Ten, it seems like Virginia Tech is
pulling a fast one. They lurk two spots behind the Nittany
Lions in the pols, brushing aside Big East foes as Penn State
battles with Ohio State, Purdue, Michigan and Michigan
State.
If the Lions should falter against one of these teams - all
of which I'm convinced could take Virginia Tech - the
Hokies already have the travel agency on the other line, look-
ing for the best rate to New Orleans.
It's not a foregone conclusion that the Hokies are going to
go undefeated and even if they d, they need Penn State and
Nebraska to lose before they start thinking Sugar Bowl.
But I don't want the Hokies being the third remaining
undefeated team - I'm all but awarding the Seminoles a spot
in the Sugar Bowl - and mucking up the BCS system when
they don't belong there to begin with. In order to make the
Sugar Bowl, you should have to beat at least one top-10 team
to get there. Virginia Tech has no such team on their schedule.
So if there's any justice in this world, the Hokies won't go
undefeated. They still have to face Miami (Fla), the only
ranked team remaining on their schedule.
So let's hope that the 23rd-ranked Hurricanes can regain
some of the swagger (and talent) they had in the early '90s,
when the 2 Live Crew were their biggest fans and the players

had to take a pay cut when they got drafted by the NFL.
Because if the Hokies get past the Hurricanes, they're on
the road to an undefeated season and Bourbon Street. Their
Nov. 13 meeting with Miami is their last hurdle, and to pre-
serve the good name of college football - and an exciting
national championship game - I'll be the biggest Miami fan
around on that day.
I'm going to dust off my copy of "As Nasty As They
Wanna Be" right now.
- Andy Latack does not actually own a copy
of2 Live Crew' "As Nasty As They Wanna Be"
although he did in sixth grade. if you have a copy he
can2 dub, e-mxail hint at latack@:rmich edu

After Michigan's loss to Michigan State, Lloyd Carr still hasn't decided on his .

UARTERBACK

OPTIONS

bt numbers in 1 '
avor o rad
By Rick Freeman
Daily Sports Editor
Lloyd Carr still likes 'em both. He's not one to play
favorites, but the numbers seem to favor senior Tom
Brady over sophomore Drew Henson. There's lies, damn
lies and then statistics, of course. And no one would say
you should choose a quarterback based on statistics, but
since the two quarterbacks in question simply find new
ways to say that the system is fine by them, stats are
about all that's left to go on.
Through the first few games of the season, until, say,
Purdue, the performances of the two quarterbacks were
nearly identical.
After that game, in which Brady outplayed bot
Drews - including the leisman Trophy candidate -
they started to separate. And even though Henson took
over in the second half of the 34-31 loss to Michigan, he
was replaced for ineffectiveness after throwing an inter-
ception to Aric Morris.
"He made a great read and a great throw," Michigan
coach Lloyd Carr said of Henson's bomb to senior wide
receiver Marcus Knight. "Drew didn't play as well in the
third quarter as he would have liked:'
By that logic, probably the entire offense should h*
been yanked. They never made it inside the Spartans' 33
until Brady took them there with a 31-yard completion
to fullback Aaron Shea. In fact, Brady found the end
zone twice in the fourth quarter (his pass to Shea set up
a 2-yard run by Anthony Thomas.)
Brady crafted two more touchdown drives in that
fourth quarter two weeks ago - both capped with
touchdown passes.
So far this season, Brady has been the architect of II
touchdown drives. Henson, with somewhat less playing
time, has engineered five. a
After Brady's performance in the second half again
Michigan State, critics blamed Carr's two quarterback
system for the loss.
They cited Brady's utter annihilation of Michigan
State's secondary.
Those critics found more ammunition when Purdue
quarterback Drew Brees did the same thing in the first
quarter against the Spartans. That meant that the
Michigan State defense gave up six touchdowns in two
straight quarters - five through the air. While this may
have made a case - in hindsight - for Carr to have h
Brady pass more against the Spartans, that's probab
not fair to say.C ,
See CARR, Page 20A

UANA LNNANL/Uaily
Michigan quarterback Tom Brady's standout performance in the second half of Michigan's loss to Michigan State prompt-
ed criticism of coach Lloyd Carr's two-quarterback system.

Michigan's superfans go the Extreme way

By Brian Galvin
Daily Sports Writer
On cold weekend mornings, when the
Michigan students are sleeping off a hang-
over or fighting to get out of bed, a growing
number of dedicated Wolverine fans gather
on the steps of the Michigan Union, painting
themselves with school spirit.
The Extreme Wolverines, in its second
year, is a group of the most intense
Michigan faithful on campus. The group
specializes in attending non-revenue sport-
ing events on campus, giving every student
a chance to live the life of Superfan.
Superfan himself, sophomore Reza
Breakstone, is a prominent member of
Extreme Wolverines.
"Mass hysteria builds spirit," Breakstone
said. "We try to divert spirit to the under-
represented sports and get a lot of people out
there going crazy."
Extreme Wolverines was created by the
Michigan Student Assembly's Superfan
Task Force, which was set up to replace the
original Superfan - Jeff H-olzhausen -
who graduated in 1997. After seeing all of
the spirit on campus, task force chairperson
Jennifer Zorko realized that there could be a
team of Superfans.
"We've always had a great athletic
department, but no one ever noticed," said

Zorko of the numerous Michigan teams that
contend for Big Ten and NCAA titles.
Atheletes in under-represented sports "are
just as talented and work just as hard as foot-
ball players. We should all know about our
great teams."
Breakstone has been a role model for the
group since he assumed the role of Superfan
last year.
"I think my spirit is unparalleled. I
mean, I'm Superfan," he said.
Extreme Wolverine members hope that
that spirit will be contagious, establishing
Ann Arbor as an intimidating city for oppos-
ing teams to compete in.
"I hope a lot of people come out (for
Michgan sporting events," Breakstone said.
"I want the crowd to be a factor like the
Cameron Crazies at Duke, or the 12th Man
at Texas"
For the success that Michigan teams
have achieved in the recent past, Wolverine
fans have yet to be recognized as an intimi-
dating force. With the exception of hockey
fans at Yost Ice Arena, Michigan supporters
haven't been able to create a significant
home-team advantage compared to other
college teams. As student fanatic groups
such as Duke's Cameron Crazies and
Michigan State's Izzone have garnered
national attention, Michigan fans are begin-

ning to realize that they have a lot to cheer
about.
"I guess excellence breeds a blase atti-
tude," said Breakstone of Michigan fans.
Translation: Wolverine fans have become
spoiled with success, and should appreciate
the elite teams that they get to see on a reg-
ular basis.
Extreme Wolverines members are hop-
ing to get more students involved. The
group had a successful recruiting class at
Festifall, and are constantly looking to add
more members.
The group has received support from the
Athletic Department, and details on upcom-
ing events can be found from a link on the
official Michigan sports Website -
wwwi: mgoblue.com.
"We're in the exploratory stages right
now, but hopefully by next year, we'll be in
full blown effect," Breakstone said.
Breakstone shrugged off comparisons to
Michigan State's Johnny Spirit, a green-
painted fan who has become a staple at
Spartan sporting events. Amidst rumors of
Spirit's inability to donate blood due to the
many years of body paint infecting his sys-
tem, Breakstone assured Michigan fans that
he won't risk his own health in supporting
his team.
"l guess Johnny is a good guy, but I

Get Extreme!
The Extreme Wolverines is a group
made up of students who attend non-
revenue sporting events. Its goal is to
create an intimidating atmosphere for all
of Michigan's opponents, whether it's
football, volleyball or tennis.
Upcoming Extreme Wolverine events:
Oct. 24 - soccer v. Butler, 1 p.m.
Nov. 5 - women's basketbal, 7 p.m.
Nov. 12 - women's basketball, 7 p.m.
Nov. 19 -swimming and diving, 6p.m.
Extreme Wolverines meets an hour before
game time on the steps of the Michigan
Union to get pumped up before events..j
wouldn't paint my body to that point"
Breakstone said.
As for a head-to-head matchup with
Johnny Spirit, Michigan's Superfan mai-
tamed that it would be no contest.
S "I'd take him down in one round,"
Breakstone said.

The University of Michigan, School of Public Policy, is pleased to announce:
Aida Alverez, Director
U.S. Small Business Administration
Washington, DC.

Interdisciplinary Ph.D. program encompassing molecular nutrition,
clinical nutrition, nutritional epIdemIology, and international nutrition.
T ii i p u r aai w
-the School of Medicine
+hn Cnhnnl of Da shlir 1-aalth

Back to Top

© 2024 Regents of the University of Michigan